NLC India, formerly Neyveli Lignite Corp, is in talks with the Andaman and Nicobar authorities to set up an additional 20 megawatt hour battery storage to help the union territory reduce its dependence on highly polluting diesel generators .
“We are having a 20-MW solar plant and 8 megawatt hour (MWh) storage capacity in south Andaman. Now Andaman has approached us for the installation of additional battery capacity to ensure grid stability,” NLC India CMD Prasanna Kumar Motupalli said.
He added that the NLC is the first public sector company to establish any battery storage system at grid scale.
With the commissioning of the solar PV-cum-storage project in Port Blair in June 2020, problems related to diesel generators (DG) sets have partially reduced, the CMD said.
The additional 20 MWh battery energy storage system will need a capex of about Rs 250 crore.
Due to the geographical limitations, including separation by sea over long distances, there is no single power grid, hence, power houses running on diesel cater to different areas.
Diesel accounts for 95% of the total power generation in Andaman and Nicobar Islands with balance coming from hydropower generation.
The company has chalked out mega plans in the renewable energy (RE) sector. They have set a target of setting up 6,000 MW RE generation capacity by 2030 with an investment of Rs 24,000 crore. For this, a 100% subsidiary NLC India Renewables Ltd (NIRL) has been formed and all renewable assets will be transferred to it.
NLC India is developing 300 MW capacity at Khavda solar park in Gujarat with another 300 MW in green-shoe option. It is participating in solar park in Rajasthan for 810 MW. It plans to install more capacity in Uttar Pradesh. NLC India is in discussions with the UP government for land to install around 800-MW solar capacity.